Should You Still Learn Coding in the Age of AI? The Question Every Developer Is Quietly Asking

The post reflects on whether learning to code is still worthwhile in an era of AI coding assistants and widespread tech layoffs. It argues that many layoffs are rooted in pandemic-era overhiring rather than AI alone, and warns against 'vibe coding' — using AI-generated code without understanding it — because real systems break in ways that require deep knowledge to debug. It also raises concern about companies cutting junior hiring, which could create a future experience gap. The conclusion is that shallow syntax knowledge is losing value, but deep systems thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to guide AI tools intelligently remain essential and increasingly important.